Thread: No U.S. Amnesty for Illegal Immigrants

http://www.manilatimes.net/national/200 ... 3top2.html

Thursday, March 23, 2006

No US amnesty for illegal immigrants

PRESIDENT George W. Bush’s decision to rule out amnesty or automatic citizenship for undocumented immigrants will gravely affect the future of illegal Filipino immigrants in the United States—estimated conservatively at 300,000 to 500,000 but estimated extravagantly (by the US chapter of Bagong Alyansang Makabayan) at over one million.

Bush said on Tuesday that he was opposed to amnesty or automatic citizenship for the some 12 million undocumented immigrants in the United States.

Amid an intense debate over the issue among US lawmakers, Bush ruled out amnesty for illegal immigrants but said he favored a “guest worker” program that would provide legal status for workers for a limited time period.

“In my judgment, amnesty would be the wrong course of action,” Bush told a news conference.

He said “a whole industry” of exploitation had emerged with workers being smuggled across the US border in dangerous conditions.

“The best way to do something about it is to say that if an American won’t do a job and you can find somebody who will do the job, they ought to be allowed to do it legally on a temporary basis,” Bush said.

Asked about those undocumented workers who have lived in the US for more than a decade, Bush said: “My answer is: That person shouldn’t get automatic citizenship.”

“One of the issues is going to be to deal with somebody whose family has been here for a while, raised a family, and that’ll be an interesting debate.”

Bush’s comments came as a showdown looms in Congress over rival proposals on immigration reform and a day after the Mexican government bought full-page advertisements in major US newspapers to set out its stance on the issue.

The news will disappoint thousands of Filipinos who are living or working illegally in the United States.

Known in the Philippines and the US as the “TNTs” (for tago nang tago, or in perpetual hiding), the undocumented Filipinos live in many parts of the United States, particularly in California on the west coast, and the New York-New Jersey-Philadelphia axis on the East.

Many of them have violated the terms of their visas by overstaying, working or studying illegally.

The US Embassy in Manila has the second busiest consular office in the world, after Mexico, according to a study. The consular office receives an average 40,000 visa applications a year.

Filipino immigration to the US started in the early 1900s on the wave of sugarcane workers in Hawaii and cannery workers in Alaska. Among the first visitors to the mainland were the pensionados, as the government-sponsored students were called.
--AFP with The Manila Times

In the case of those who have been here over 10 years and have raised families here, their cause should be reviewed on a case by case basis through an immigration judge.

One of the issues is going to be to deal with somebody whose family has been here for a while, raised a family, and that’ll be an interesting debate.”

I guess in America it's "Whoever can get away with a crime for the longest period of time wins".

Originally Posted by daydreamer

In the case of those who have been here over 10 years and have raised families here, their cause should be reviewed on a case by case basis through an immigration judge.

They broke the law. It shouldn't matter if they did it last week or 20 years ago. People get arrested all the time for crimes they comitted in the past. When they go to court do you think the judge cares about their personal lives or how long ago the crime happened?

Check this out:

http://www.wral.com/news/8203712/detail.html

GRANVILLE COUNTY, N.C. -- A violent crimes task force, made up of officers from 15 local jurisdictions, has captured a convicted murderer who was living free for three decades.

The U.S. Marshal's violent crimes task force said 80-year-old Johnny Van Ellis escaped from prison in Granville County in 1974 while serving a life sentence for second-degree murder.

Do you think since this guy has been free for over 20 years now that the judge should just say "never mind".